The present invention relates to a conveyor with zone control. In particular, the present invention relates to a conveyor with flexible zone control.
Automated manufacturing systems use conveyors to carry a workpiece or product along a conveyor path to various stations for manufacture or assembly. Workpieces are deposited to the conveyor and intermittently moved along the conveyor to various operation stations for manufacture or assembly. During assembly operations it is desirable to sequence movement of the workpieces along the conveyor path to maintain sufficient workpiece spacing so that workpieces do not stack up or crash into one another while the workpieces are stopped at various stations for assembly.
Prior conveyor systems incorporate zone control systems for controlling movement of workpieces along the conveyor path. The conveyor path is divided into multiple fixed control zones. Each fixed control zone includes at least one drive mechanism for moving workpieces in the zone and at least one sensor for controlling operation of the drive mechanism in the zone or adjacent zones. Zone length or size is configured based upon workpiece size or length. Thus, use of the zoned conveyor is limited to the particular product size for which the conveyor has been configured and does not provide flexibility for different product or workpiece sizes. For example, different form factor disc drives and drive components have different dimension sizes, and thus fixed zone conveyors do not provide flexibility for use for different form factor drives and components. The present invention addresses these and other problems and offers solutions and advantages over the prior art.
The present invention relates to a conveyor with flexible zone parameter control which provides flexibility for use with different products or workpieces having different dimensions and sizes. A flexible zone conveyor of the present invention includes a zone address interface coupled to at least one zone control unit to configure the at least one zone control unit to control a designated series of motors along a conveyor path to provide a flexible control zone adaptable for different product applications. Control parameters for the control zone can be user defined for flexible operating control.